This invention relates to a special guide for guiding a boat onto a trailer which is on a ramp leading into the water.
One of the largest past times in this country is the wide uses of boats on our streams and lakes. A very large number of boats are owned by people who keep the boats at their home on land and haul them by trailer to a lake or to the stream. The trailer with the boat on it is usually backed down a ramp into the water so that the trailer is partially submerged and the boat floated out to the deeper water. There is really no big problem with this. However, after the boaters have finished their lake activities, such as fishing, skiing or sightseeing, they must load the boat back on the trailer. It is necessary that the boat be directed to the center part of the trailer so that it will be properly positioned on the trailer for the trip back home. This can be a problem especially if there is high winds or waves which might force the boat to go off course.
Various means and methods have been devised to meet the problem of centering the boat just described. A search in this area revealed the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,447,815; 3,750,805; 4,268,211; 4,010,962; 2,827,304; 3,822,899; 3,021,969; 4,209,279; 4,448,438; 3,603,465; and 3,938,829.
Most of these patents are directed toward some sort of a boat centering apparatus. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,447,815 and 4,268,211 have spring loaded roller members for contacting the sides of a boat. U.S. Pat. No. 2,827,304 has rotatable guide members 6C and 7C adapted to engage the sides of the bow of the boat as it is pulled onto the rear end of the trailer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,279 has a guide member 66 which appears to engage the hull and are separated as the ship comes on due to the increasing width of the hull.